sharpeye

Living Well By Dr Arvind Kumar The notion of living well should not be construed in terms of leading a luxurious and cozy life. It means redesigning urban and non-urban living environments, the restitution of the local, regional and national communal goods, and a quick transition toward renewable energy at a small scale, that must be oriented to the locality and owned by the local community, without hampering the natural balance, and including wind, solar, small scale hydro and wave and local bio-fuels, not global agro fuels. It also means reallocating the massive funds destined for war in order to heal Mother Earth. Living well should aim at promoting an orderly reconstruction of the rural areas and the revitalization of communities by way of agrarian reform, education and application of eco-agricultural micro farming methods, based on native cultural and communal practices, the wealth of communities, fertile land, clean water and air. All of these approaches are in prep

World Food Day World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1945. Ironically, about one billion people still suffer from food shortages around the world and it is the bounden duty of the international duty to take a united stand against hunger. The World Food Day theme for 2013 is “ Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and   Nutrition ” and it will be the focus of World Food Day in 2013. While asserting that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of hungry people in the world is a pillar for achieving all eight of the globally-agreed targets with a 2015 deadline, today almost 842 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished. Unsustainable models of development are degrading the natural environment, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity that will be needed for our future food supply. When people are hungry, they cannot br

Global Hand Washing Day Global Handwashing Day   is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their   hands   with   soap . It takes place on October 15 of each year. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of hand washing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention. Hand washing with soap is the single most effective and inexpensive way to prevent  diarrhea  and acute respiratory infections (ARI), and swine flu as automatic behavior performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide.  Pneumonia , a major ARI, is the number one cause of mortality among children under five years old, taking the life of an estimated 1.8 million children per year. Diarrhea and pneumonia together account for almost 3.5 million child deaths annually Hand-hygiene is a vital part of infection control. The process of drying hands after washing constitutes an important part of the process. Not drying one’s hands thoroughly after washing them entails the ri

Vijyadashami Vijyadashami is observed as triumph of good over evil. Lord Rama is the symbol of good whereas Ravana symbolizes evil. The annual ritual of burning the effigies of Ravana along with his kiths and kins in different corners of India as a mark of Vijyadashami results in burning of fuel wood in hundreds of tonnes by cutting trees. Besides, effigy-burning also culminates in pollution of air. The time has come to change the mind-set and stop wasting wood and rather save trees. Ravana as symbol of evil represents our negative thoughts which should be abandoned immediately and we should take solemn pledge on this day to do good to others in word, action and deed. We should think of the poor and down-trodden segments of the society and work for their uplift. Instead of cutting trees for burning effigies, we should take pledge to plant more trees so that the demon of global warming is kept at bay and fresh air is ushered in for of all to breathe. More trees mean less polluti

Cyclone Phailin Cyclone Phailin, categorised as "very severe" by weather forecasters, is expected to hit Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states on today evening. The Meteorological Department has predicted the storm will bring winds up to 220 km/h (136mph). The storm is not only intense but covers a wide area. Odissa Government issued a high alert to the districts of  Balasore ,  Bhadrak ,  Mayurbhanj ,  Keonjhar ,  Dhenkanal ,  Jajpur ,  Cuttack , Jagatsinghpur ,  Kendrapara ,  Puri ,  Khurda ,  Nayagarh ,  Ganjam  and  Gajapati ; and cancelled the  Dusshera  holidays of employees of all 30 districts of the state, asking them to ensure safety of people. Food and relief materials were stocked-up at storm shelters across the state. Phailin is the last of the first set of 32 names for tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean. The names have been suggested by Asian countries since 2004. Phailin, was named by Thailand and means "sapphire" in Thai. The previous one

Spreading Happiness By Dr Arvind Kumar Many people regard happiness not only something that would be nice to have, but something that we really ought to have—and, moreover, something that’s within our power to bring about, if only we set our minds to it. We can be happy, we should be happy. We will be happy. Prior to the late 17th century in the West, it was thought that happiness was a matter of luck or virtue or divine favour. In today’s Western societies, people think of happiness as a right and a skill that can be developed. People strive to improve their lots in life, individually and collectively. But there have been downsides as well. It seems that when people want to be happy all of the time, they can forget that the pursuit of happiness can entail struggle, sacrifice, and even pain. Today, science is rediscovering the validity of ancient perspectives on happiness—that there are important connections between hope and happiness, for example, or between gratitude and fo

World Habitat Day 2013 By Dr Arvind Kumar Today (7 th October 2013) is World Habitat Day. The first Monday of October every year has been designated by the United Nations as World Habitat Day. The underlying idea is to reflect on the state of towns and cities and the basic right of all, to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. This year, the United Nations chose the theme Urban Mobility because mobility and access to goods and services is essential to the efficient functioning of our cities and towns as they expand. Accessible cities encourage a shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation and draw more and more travellers out of cars and onto trains, buses, bike paths, and sidewalks. But mobility is about more than just the mode of transport we use. Urban planning and design should focus on how to bring people and places together, by creating cities that focus on accessibilit

Remembering Gandhiji & Shastriji By Dr Arvind Kumar A grateful nation celebrates today the birth anniversary of Gandhji, Father of the Nation. It has become a ritual with the powers that be either at the Centre or States to pay courtesy call at Raj Ghat and offer garlands as a token of tribute to the departed noble soul. Gandhiji did not lay down his life for earning these rituals. He never clamoured for any coveted office and rather led a life of an ordinary Indian peasant or a hermit. He experimented with nonviolence, truth, Satyagraha and found these ideals as worth putting into practice. He strove hard to eliminate the curse of untouchability from the India society. Today is the solemn occasion for all of us to emulate the ideals cherished by Gandhiji and putting even a single ideal into our practice will be real tribute to the Father of the Nation. Our dalit brethern have to be brought into the national mainstream and this task cannot be left to the Government alone